, also known as ''Ritual'', is a 2000 Japanese

psychological drama Psychological drama, or psychodrama, is a Genre, subgenre of Drama (film and television), drama and psychological fiction literatures that generally focuses upon the emotional, mental, and psychological development of the protagonists and other c ...

film written and directed by

Hideaki Anno is a Anime, Japanese animator, filmmaker, Film producer, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), ''Evangelion'' franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industr ...

. It is based on the novella ''Tōhimu'' by Ayako Fujitani, who also stars alongside Shunji Iwai. Like Anno's previous film '' Love & Pop'' (1998), it is an

art film An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...

with

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

elements diving into the minds of its main characters. ''Shiki-Jitsu'' takes place over 33 days and follows the relation between an apathetic film director (Iwai) and an odd young woman (Fujitani) who start a bizarre friendship after a chance meeting and they try to work their way out of a collective emotional funk. Michael Ordona of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' reported the film had "dark themes of mental illness and suicidal ideation". ''Shiki-Jitsu'' won an award for Best Artistic Contribution at the 13th International Film Festival in Tokyo.

Story

The film follows a young Director returning to his home city of Ube in

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

, and an eccentric young Woman he meets, whose quirks include saying "tomorrow is my birthday" every day and wearing very unusual clothing. But as the days go by, it appears that the Woman has little touch with reality and is constantly escaping into a fantasy world, while the Director himself is a former

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

director who is seeking to do a "real film" and embrace reality. The two eventually fall in love. In the end, the Director confronts the Woman with her mother, allowing the Woman to make the first steps into the real world. The films ends with the Girl circling December 7 as her real birthday and the words "beyond the 33rd day: unknown".

Release

The film was produced by Studio Kajino, an offshoot of

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

, run by its former president Toshio Suzuki who served on the film as executive producer. It was given a première at the Tokyo Photography Museum in Ebisu Garden Place on December 7, 2000. The movie was later released on VHS and DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan July 24, 2003 as part of the "Ghibli Cinematic Library" series. On July 1, 2020, the movie was released to

Video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

by King Records.

References

External links

*
Tokyo Movie Report 26
* {{Studio Ghibli Films Japanese drama films 2000 films Films directed by Hideaki Anno Films with screenplays by Hideaki Anno 2000s Japanese-language films Films scored by Takashi Kako Tokuma Shoten Studio Ghibli

Story

Release

See also

References

External links